Why is the US complaining? This is exactly what they asked for by bringing capitalism back to Russia
this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2024
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Leftist parties (socialist and socdem) were doing so well in the Duma after the collapse of the USSR and the Russians got a taste of capitalism that Yeltsin - with the backing of the US - in a metaphorical but also very literal sense - attacked the legislative branch and consolidated all functional power in the executive. Again, with US backing. Putin is just using the levers of power than Yeltsin and Clinton handed to him.
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Russian capitalism has been good for wealthy Russians, not Americans, so therefore Russia bad.
But it was also very good for wealthy Americans too
No, they wanted a comprador colony. They stopped getting that around 2008 so Russia is back to mortal enemy.
I'm so sick of this idea in the west that elections must always be really "close" or else they won't be legitimate somehow. They literally argue that actual popular support for a politician is somehow undemocratic.
(Not saying that Putin is just really popular and doesn't gerrymander and manipulate votes the same way every capitalist government does, I'm just so fucking sick of this idea that every vote needs to be "close" like a fucking sports game in a movie.)
Actually, democracy is only valid when the vote margin is 0.1% in favor of the loser who loses on an idiosyncratic technicality of how votes are divided up and counted, and both candidates are less popular than a police precinct being burned down by protesters.
Whenever the government has popular approval that's populism and is bad, actually. If ever you find yourself with too much public support you have to strategically triangulate towards your opponent and alienate your base to make the election fair and democratic.
Putin has an 86% approval rating in Russia
Yes, but I don't know if that is due to genuine popularity or a lack of decent opposition (though the two are usually directly related). I just don't know enough about Russian politics to really weigh in.
Every country's political imagination is shaped by what their country does and the conditions of it. Like in America, the only political battlefield is over manners and how to administer empire. The two American sides are domestic capital versus international finance capital. Politics in Taiwan are split between pro-status quo or anti-China. There's not always a clear framework of left/right.
Politics in Russia from my understanding mostly revolve around how to deal with the west. There's a pro-integration side and an assertive, independent Russia side. Putin's the head of the anti-west contingent, and that's been the more popular side among the Russian population for decades now. It's also why Trump is viewed positively by a lot of Russians, because Trump's platform back in 2016 sounded like he wanted to go more isolationist and stop toying around in foreign affairs (lmao)
domestic capital versus international finance capital
Honestly even this distinction isn't so clear cut, Republicans love to virtue signal about being more insular but they're all involved with the same bourgeoisie as the democrats.
i mean if that number is accurate it speaks for itself, literally no western politician could get such high approval even if they went door to door offering blowjobs
Maybe that's why they insist popularity is a sign of authoritarianism. Because they're jealous.
The direct opposition is the communist party of the Russian federation.
Yeah neither do I tbh. But I share your annoyance at this criticism especially when it’s leveled at aes states. “Democracy is when you hate the government, and the more you hate the government, the more democratic it is” - the state dept
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There's a case that constant 51/49 polls are a sign that American democracy is faltering on a nechanical level.
Good ideas in politics should be widely understood. One would hope to see 70/30 or more splits on most issues coming to a direct vote.
Without the FPTP electoral model, everyone would have to play the coalition card, which would likely lead to majorities larger than 51/49 for most legislation. Of course, it's also odd that even a two party systrm splits the country almost exactly evenly despite social shifts. It's like looking at a trench war that's been going on for 150 years. It's almost like business likes and supports a government prone to rictus.
If there wasn't so much cash floating in the system, it would be harder to coax the masses into voting against their own interests, again reducing the number of campaigns swung to a 51/49 outcome.
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It's not that I think Russia is a free and fair democracy, it's clearly filled with corruption like all liberal democracies. it's just the misinformation about why and the utter hypocrisy and -100 self-awareness on criticising it.
- Navalny was never that popular, nore were any of the opposition members who were "banned" (for allegedly forging signatures). Nobody contests this, just western media like to act as if he mattered at all, and will never dare admit that the real opposition to Putin is commies (even if name only).
- Russia has not banned any of the actually major opposition parties, while Ukraine actually has explicitly banned almost all opposition.
- Acting like it's not common practice in all western democracies to deny people from being listed on ballots due to bureaucratic technicalities. They all do it.
- Putin's vote share does actually line up with widely accepted polls of his popularity. Russia is a country at war with a 1/6th of the world, the West, so it's little surprise to have an especially high rate now.
My constant reaction to libs arguing Putin is Hitler is "Sure whatever, now admit the state of democracy in your western country is about the same or worse and how that is the problem, Putin isn't special."
Acting like it's not common practice in all western democracies to deny people from being listed on ballots due to bureaucratic technicalities. They all do it.
There are like 2 dozen candidates in the 2024 US general presidential election who will not be listed on any ballots for far less legitimate reasons. Candidates get dropped because they would make the list too long.
I'm pretty sure the average liberal thinks this was supposed to be an election between Navalny and Putin. That's how misinformed they are.
You're also right. Putin is massively popular in Russia at a level libs can't seem to comprehend. The only major opposition he has involve the communists, but they mostly align with Putin's foreign policy anyway. Most polls show Putin with a 85% approval rating and libs will always think numbers like that are unfair or fabricated.
I'm uncertain if American libs can even conceptualize the idea of a popular government with broad public support. They seem to think that winning more than 55% of votes means the election was rigged and that if a government has an approval rating about 30% they're faking the poles.
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"Lack of credible opposition"
(According to his Wikipedia article, Kharitonov even quit in the previous political party he was in because it became part of United Russia)
If only Russians had a real choice between Putin and 101% Putin it would have been a wholesome freedom democracy like in the west.
Well they had a real choice, several times, between Putin and a various copies of Yeltsin.
Are there elections that aren't "state-managed?"
For real. US elections are multi-year multi-billion dollar media extravaganzas managed by an army of consultants and media professionals
Remember when the candidate selection vote for the Democrats in several key states used an untested black box app developed by one of the candidates?
Definitely no corruption here
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Biden extends one man-rule in America after stage-managed election devoid of credible opposition
1 hour ago • Atheist Jones
Is that podium FLOATING?
Russia has spent all of their budget on the war, so they can no longer afford podium stands and speakers have to hold them up themselves.
Putin won because he was the only candidate capable of a perfectly steady grip.
there's a thin black metal pole underneath it that's camouflaged by Putin's suit. You can see the contours of it if you squint
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The Russia Ukraine war for me is a situation where all the players are just bad or worse but goddam is lib rage hilarious
It's honestly the best part of this war, the libs really go mask off over it.
The funniest part is if you look online at news of people queuing at the Russian embassies to vote, it's always interspersed with mentions of how they're actually "protests" and how everyone there is turning out to write-in Navalny (LOL). Like, no, it's obviously cherrypicked examples to align with your country's position on Russia.
In our country the queue outside the embassy was ginormous, and there are videos of it being shared on social media but no news covering it at all.
Same in Beijing.
Sky News did this with people queuing to vote at the Embassy in London. They found one person who said they were going to spoil their ballot in protest of Putin. They were the only person they got a quote from even though they went back to the street report twice.
Every newspaper in Britain is running with the 'no real opposition' line on the Russian election.
While simultaneously talking non-stop about a snap election between the Tories & Labour.
While also running lots of Tory-soothing stories about how Labour have vowed not to undo Tory policy.
Beyond parody.
I am reminded of Yanis Varoufakis' story about German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble screaming at him that "elections can not be allowed to change economic policy!"
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Comrade CNN highlights the pointlessness of electoralism to achieve system change
Russians don't even have a choice between putler and 99% putler, smdh.
In Russia, you are given exactly one option for President and everyone is required to agree that he is the only person fit to lead the country.
In America, you are given three choices. One of them is a senile baffoon who will most assuredly spell the end of the Republic if he is elected. The other is a throwback to the 1980s who is coasting entirely on name recognition. And the third is a failson without any credible leadership qualities, who simply runs because he doesn't have anything better to do.
One of these countries will have 75% election turnout. The other will be lucky to crack 60%. Care to guess which?
One of them is a senile baffoon who will most assuredly spell the end of the Republic if he is elected. The other is a throwback to the 1980s who is coasting entirely on name recognition. And the third is a failson without any credible leadership qualities, who simply runs because he doesn’t have anything better to do.
I am disturbed by the fact I can't tell which one is which
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Westoid media seems to be making a big deal about the lack of "international observers" to the Russian election. When was the last time you heard about official international observers in western elections?
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To anglos it is common knowledge that a war-time president who holds off the hated enemy and manages to stabilize the country while somewhat improving or at least maintaining standards of living will be very unpopular and lose elections.
How long has Bibi ruled fascist 
?
Maybe if the west stops trying to shove 
into every election or bomb election ballot trucks or create nuclear exetential threats to Russia they might have some more "favorable" changes? Almost like the more we keep fucking with Russia, the more the Russian population resists. Really fucking strange!
What happened to the like 20% polling that the KPRF had a while back?
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